Xiaomi has officially launched its latest flagship phone in the Mi series, the Mi 8 today. The company has skipped the Mi 7 to match with its anniversary. Xiaomi is competing with other flagship devices like the iPhone X, Galaxy S9+ and the OnePlus 6 with their latest Mi 8.

The device equips the notch as seen on the iPhone X, but with a difference. Other OEMs used to feature the notch in their devices for reducing the screen size and making more screen to body ratio. But Xiaomi has implemented the infrared face unlock similar to the iPhone X. The infrared face unlock claims to unlock the device even in the dark.

The notch also equips the front camera, proximity sensor, and the earpiece. In terms of the display used, the company has finally decided to use OLED. The smartphone sports a bright 6.21-inch FHD+ OLED display and has an aspect ratio of 18.7:9. The front camera used in the device is a 20 MP sensor with f/2.0 aperture. The sensor has a 1.8μm pixel size which allows more light intake.

At the rear side, there is a vertically stacked dual camera setup. Xiaomi has gone with dual 12 MP sensors this time. The cameras feature 4 axis Optical Image Stabilization. The device makes use of AI for scene detection and video editing.

The phone is also the first phone to use a Dual GPS, which uses the traditional L1 frequency and also the L5 frequency (which is used by mostly aeronautical industry) for GPS. This makes it the most accurate GPS on a phone ever!

The processor used in the device is Snapdragon 845. It is coupled with 6 GB RAM and 64GB of internal storage. The device runs on MIUI 10 based on Android Oreo. The Xiaomi Mi 8 prices start at 2699 Yuan, approximately Rs.28,500 for 6/64GB variant, 2999 Yuan (approximately Rs. 31,500) for the 6/128 variant and 3200 Yuan (approximately Rs. 33,500) for the 6/256GB variant.

There is a special edition of Mi 8 which the company calls Explorer Edition. We heard rumors in the past that Xiaomi has been working on the Mi 8 with an in-display fingerprint sensor. This has just turned out to be true with this edition. The company claims that this new in-display fingerprint sensor unlocks faster than the Vivo X21. The rear side is translucent and shows off it’s SoC. This edition is priced at 3699 Yuan which roughly translates to Rs.39,000.

LG ThinQ V40 Silently Launched in India, Priced at Rs.49,990!

LG today launched its V40 ThinQ flagship smartphone in India. The smartphone was launched back in October last year in New York and comes with 5 cameras. The South Korean manufacturer unveiled the LG G7+ ThinQ in India last year with dual camera and now a smartphone with a ‘3 + 2” camera setup.

As for the specifications, the LG V40 features a 6.4 inch P-OLED FullVision display with a QHD+ resolution (3120 x 1440 pixels) and an aspect ratio of 19:5:9. It has a top notch and is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass on top. Under the hood, it is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 paired with an Adreno 630. It is coupled with 6GB LPDDR4X RAM and 128GB internal storage that can be further expanded up to 2TB via a microSD card.

In the optics department, the device sports a horizontally stacked triple camera setup on rear of which two of them is a telephoto and a wide angle lens. It consists of a 12MP camera with f/1.5 aperture and 1.4µ pixel size, a 16MP wide angle lens with f/1.9 aperture and 1.0µ pixel size and third 12MP camera with f/2.4 aperture and 1.0µ pixel size, AI CAM, Portrait Mode and a LED flash. On the front the V40 offers a dual camera setup of 8MP + 5MP configuration.

The handset runs on Android 8.1 Oreo and is backed by a non-removable 3,300 mAh battery with Qualcomms’s Quick Charge 3.0 and fast Qi wireless charging support . Additional features include Quad DAC, Boombox Stereo Speaker and an IP68 rated water and dust resistant body. There is a circular fingerprint sensor at the rear placed below the triple cameras.

The LG V40 comes at a price tag of Rs 49,990 and is available exclusively from Amazon India in New Moroccan Blue and New Platinum Gray colours. The price will stay the same for the duration of Amazon’s Great Indian Sale from January 20 to January 23. Prime subscribers will be able to order the device a day before on January 19. Launch offer includes 10% instant discount on HDFC Bank credit/debit cards, Rs 1,000 Amazon Pay Cashback for Prime members and one-time screen replacement that is valid for six months and an additional discount of Rs 5,000

OPPO in an event today showcased a 10X camera setup implementing three sensors along with a bigger in-screen fingerprint scanner area. The event didn’t include any smartphone launch or demo of some sort but the Chinese manufacturer promised more in the MWC 2019 event next month.

The 10X hybrid optical zoom technology works by combining its 5X optical zoom with a wide- angle lens that combines to give a 10 times zoom. There is a third camera sensor in the middle for regular snaps but it doesn’t affect the zoom range. The company representatives’ reveals that the module covers the 35mm equivalent of 15.9-159mm focal length. To give you an idea, Huawei’s Mate 20 Pro’s triple camera boasts 16mm to 80mm in 25mm terms.

The new OPPO camera module includes Dual OIS (Optical Image Stabilization) for the main camera and telephoto lens. To build this camera setup, 100+ R&D patients were used and was drop tested 28,000 times. The first samples will be made available in the MWC event in Barcelona. The company promised that this tech will ship to manufacturers this year.

OPPO has also made developments in its display technology with the announcement of a bigger under-display fingerprint scanner similar to the one Lin Bin of Xiaomi introduced earlier today. The new sensor boasts an area 15 times larger than the current one in OPPO R17 and can detect two fingers at same time. Though there was a similar technology with the Vivo APEX concept last year it was not market ready.

A senior OPPO executive calls the technology the new “biometric experience” and is expected to hit the markets and smartphones by the end of this year meaning the company might showcase an early OPPO R19 at MWC 2019 to be held from February 25 to February 28.

Vivo Y91 Launched in India. Dew Drop Notch, Helio P22 & Dual Cameras!

Vivo today silently launched its Vivo Y91 smartphone in the Indian market. The Chinese manufacturer launched the budget smartphone in the Philippines last year in November and in Pakistan last month. It is also just a downgraded Vivo Y93, which launched earlier last year (just the difference in RAM!).

Coming to the specifications, the Vivo Y91 features a 6.22 inch Halo FullView display with a waterdrop notch, a resolution of HD+ (1520 x 720 pixels) and an 19:9 aspect ratio. Under the hood, it is powered by a octa-core MediaTek Helio P22 chipset paired with a PowerVR GE8320 GPU. It is available in 2GB RAM and 32GB on-board storage variant that can be further expanded up to 256GB.

In the optics department, it sports a dual camera setup in the rear of a 13MP + 2MP configuration while offering an 8MP on the front for selfies and video calling. The front camera supports Portrait mode and Face Unlock though there is a rear fingerprint sensor. The dual SIM handset runs on Fun Touch OS based on Android 8.1 Oreo and is backed by a 4,030 mAh battery supported by a smart power management feature. Connectivity options include 4G, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 5.0, GOS and GLONAS and a micro-USB 2.0 port.

The Vivo Y91 comes at a price tag of Rs 10,999 ($155 approx) for the single variant but it might be a introductory pricing and may sell at a Rs 11,990 ($169 approx) later on. It is currently available for purchase through the official Vivo online store in Ocean Blue and Starry Black color options. It comes bundled with a free pair of Bluetooth earphones.

Jio is offering benifits worth Rs. 4,000 along with 3TB data while Airtel subscribers on the other hand will get instant cashback of Rs 2,000 and 240GB of data. There is also an exchange offer but only for old Vivo smartphones, no-cost EMI and 15 days replacement with the purchase of the phone.